SENATOBIA, Miss. (WREG) — The family of a 10-year-old north Mississippi boy who was detained and charged after urinating in a parking lot has retained an attorney.
Latonya Eason stood shoulder to shoulder with her attorney Carlos Moore and her 10-year-old son Quatavious Eason as the trio gathered at the Tate County courthouse Wednesday afternoon with a message.
“My son didn’t deserve that. No kid deserve that, not only my child. I would feel the same way if that was somebody else’s child,” Eason said.
Moore said they’re putting the city of Senatobia on notice. Giving them two weeks to respond and act on a list of demands or they’re filing a federal lawsuit. This comes as Eason described the trauma they now deal with everyday since that incident.
“We’re calling for full transparency, full accountability,” Moore said.
The child was with his mother as she sought legal advice at a law office when he needed to use the restroom. Moore said there was a sign at the business saying “no public restroom,” so the boy relieved himself close to his mother’s car in the parking lot outside.
“You could not see anything indecent at all,” Moore said.
Latonya said she was contacted by a Senatobia Police officer who was nearby and she told her son not to do that again. She said the officer said she handled the situation. She thought it was over but more officers showed up and the situation escalated.
“And so they had him put his hands behind his back and they put him in a patrol car and took him to downtown Senatobia and he calls it a cage, put this boy in a cage for 45 minutes to an hour because he relieved himself on private property,” Moore said.
Quatavious is now looking at a pending juvenile charge.
“They have charged him as a young child in need of supervision,” Moore said.
As far as the officer’s status with the department, Moore said the officer is no longer with the department but the chief never said if he was fired.
“The police chief has said the officer is no longer with the department. He has not used the word termination,” he said.
The family is calling for the officer to be formally terminated as well his name released, a public apology, the charge against Quatavious dropped, and an undisclosed monetary payment.
“I’m going to fight til the end,” Eason said.
Eason and Moore also questioned if the same situation would happen to a white child. We reached out to the Senatobia Police Department but so far haven’t heard back.
The chief has previously called the case an “error in judgement.”